My reply to Octane to set the record straight: 'As is ever the case, the otherwise excellent article about the 24-carat gold-plated DeLoreans by Giles Chapman in Octane 166 contains the odd DeLorean myth. Despite Giles’ claim of no fluids being added to the cars’ ‘mechanical veins’ both of the gold-plated cars were filled on the assembly line before routine testing on the company test track in Dunmurry, in common with each of the other 9,078 cars produced.

No ‘disgruntled ex-employee filched’ the missing spare front fender, as conjectured amusingly by Giles. It was actually damaged in transit to Degussa’s contract gold-plater Holders in Baden Wuerttemberg, near Stuttgart. There, the heroic senior buyer Stuart Craven received so little cooperation that he and his colleagues, Len Nelson and George Fraser, virtually did the plating themselves with minimal supervision before their epic drive through Germany in the refrigerated food truck.

Richard Fox is correct in stating that sufficient gold had to be acquired to fill a far greater-capacity tank than his 100-litre version. However, I can assure you, as I did the deal, that only the gold deposited on the cars’ panels was paid for. The short-term cash flow problem of the outgoing £200,000 deposit (at today’s gold price) was quickly put right by an immediate refund of the major balance.

Although John DeLorean and Amex were clearly disappointed that only two cars were bought, that feeling was not shared by the Dunmurry management team. The prospect of the full 100 on offer being snapped up had been an ongoing nightmare for all of us.'